Picking Up the Pieces
by Free Ox
Summary: Rewriting of a story from years ago that I thought I could still do something with. OCs. A story of Konoha nin who struggle through life as a shinobi without the advantage of being important to the main plot line.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 _Can you feel it?_

 _What?_

 _My heart, it beats only for you._

 _Mine too._

 _This is forever._

 _Yes, forever._

Crimson liquid coated the hands and arms of a young girl, barely older than fifteen. The black hair that framed her face was matted and tangled with blood and mud. The kunoichi was kneeing on the forest floor transfixed at the sight before her.

"Sensei?" the shaking whisper slipped out of her trembling lips. Hands shook covered in blood that was not their own, the bright red staining her pale skin. A rasping cough was her answer.

"Sensei? Ar-are you o-okay?"

Wide blue eyes were filled with unshed tears as she leaned over a man. He was very tall and muscular and would have been handsome if his tan skin wasn't coated if injuries and his dark red hair matted with blood. His grey eyes were staring into the girl's as he fought desperately for breath against the gaping wound in his chest.

"Y-yea, I'm f-fine." His words were fragmented with gasps and trailed off into more coughing.

The girl glanced over to a spot a few feet to the right of the man, there lay two boys her own age. Their bodies ripped and fragmented as they too gasped for breath, she did not go to them as she knew they were whispering their final words to one another. The larger one had brown hair and held his hand to the slightly more delicate, tear stained face of the boy with blue hair. This one had closed his eyes and despite his tears was smiling as he listened to loving words the other spoke.

Tearing her eyes away she looked back down at the bleeding man,

"I'm so sorry, sensei. I should have been-" She was cut off,

"No!" more coughing, he smiled at her, "No, you did beautifully, Satomi." he brought his bloody hand to her face and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. She caught his hand and held it there.

"Thank you sensei but I-" again she was cut off.

"Call me Morio, just this once."

"Hai, Morio." she uttered his name in a quiet, almost reverend voice as though she'd been waiting her whole life to say it. The man, who was far too young for his fate smiled, but sickly coughs over took him once more. Blood came up and he chocked on it for a moment.

"Morio?" she lurched forward in concern.

"Don't worry, Sato-koi." she blushed but he did not stop, "I don't have long left but I just want you to know that I will always love you." he paused before adding, "Always." as if scared she wouldn't understand what he was saying. He took another shuttering breath, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I love you you too, always." Her breath caught and a few tears escaped her eyes. The young girl's confession brought a small, sad smile to the man's face,

"Yes but Satomi I want you to promise me something."

"Anything." was her hasty reply.

"Promise me that you will be happy."

"But-"

"Promise me! I won't be the cause of your unhappiness." he lurched forward in desperation.

"I-of course Morio, all you had to do was ask it of me." she smiled sadly at the dying man who breathed a relieved sigh,

"Ah, t-thats g-good." he didn't speak again but instead gave into death, his eyes fixed to hers as the light behind them grew dimmer with each passing moment. Finally his last shaky breath left his lungs and the forest was still.

Tears flowing freely down her face Satomi turned away from the dead body. Her sensei, her love. Her gaze fell upon the two boys who were also taken into death's embrace. A heart-wrenching scream tore from her throat and she fell on the corpse sobbing.

She would never know how long she stayed like that, but soon the night around her fell away as the sun began to rise and with it Satomi.

With renewed strength and purpose she walked over to the body of a nukenin. His name was Jinta the head hunter, a bounty hunter feared across the shinobi lands for his cruelty and determination. She didn't find him as threatening with a sword sticking through his head.

The katana had a polished black handle, the blood splattered on it nearly covered up a name engraved in sliver. It read Morio Wakahisa. Grasping the handle she ripped it from the skull with a sickening squelch. Barely flinching at the sound she reached a hand into one of his pouches, pulling out three scrolls.

One was to be delivered to the Hokage as it contained important information. The second was a regular storage scroll which she spent several minutes sealing their mission supplies and anything useful she found on the battle field.

Finally the third scroll was a special type of sealing scroll, one for dead bodies. Trembling she sealed her team mates first, nearly vomiting as she realized one of them was missing half a bloody leg. Then turning to her sensei she pressed her lips to his one final time before his body also disappeared into the scroll. And with the sword still clutched firmly in her hand she took off through the trees.

The sun was setting by the time Satomi saw the gates to Konoha. She had run countless miles non-stop, all day. The numbness that had gripped her the moment she laid eyes on her sensei's battered form and dulled her pain was rapidly fading. Slowing down to a walk she forced her exhausted muscles to keep moving. By then the only thing that kept her going was her desire to finish the mission that her team had died for and sheer force of will.

Soon she stumbled into the sight of the on guard chunnins who rushed forward to help her,

"Shit! What happened to you, we need to get you to the hospital." A part of her wanted nothing more than to be lead away and healed, to be taken care of. But another part felt it would dishonor her friends not to finish the mission that had taken their lives. And another part whispered from the shadows that she deserved the pain.

"No." she stopped herself from being dragged away and started in the direction of the Hokage tower. "I have to see Hokage-sama. I- the mission, I have to finish the mission." the two men shared a hesitant glance. Sensing her determination they took to the rooftops, supporting Satomi between them.

Jumping into the hallway outside the Hokage office via the window Satomi walked to the door, the chunnin following behind her. She burst into the office without knocking, which as it seems is not always a good idea. Judging by the twenty or so chunnin and jonin Satomi had just interrupted a important meeting. However she wasn't particularly concerned. Ignoring the stunned silence her blood soaked appearance had caused she turn to face the fuming Hokage,

"Dammit Satomi! What hell do you think you're doing?" and with all the dignity and calmness she could muster she replied,

"Team 14 reporting." Tsunade was a bit put out by the blankness of her voice and what she had just said.

"What do you mean? Where are Morio, Jishin and Fuyuki?"

"I-" she stopped, fighting tears she had not expected, "th-hey didn't m-make it." She gasped, somehow saying it aloud made it all the more real. A sob that she'd buried earlier escaped. She sank to her knees, tears broke down the walls she had built up and sobs racked her thin frame.

"They're gone!" by now she was all but screaming in her grief. A jonin stepped forward as if he wanted to comfort the young girl but didn't quite know how.

"What? But how could-I mean Morio was so strong." this came from one of the younger shinobi who was apparently perplexed as to how someone could take down Morio. Satomi only sobbed louder, clutching the sword to her chest.

"Daisuke! Hold your tongue, can't you see she's in pain?!" the Hokage moved from behind her desk to kneel in front of the crying genin,

"There you go, come on let's get you to the hospital."

"No! I- the mission, the scroll." her words were fragmented as she tried to make her point.

"Don't worry, it's okay we can always try again. I'm sure you barely got away from them with your life." realizing the Hokage had believed her to have run away from the nukenin, Satomi grew angry.

"What?! No! I have it, I have the scroll." She reached into her pouch and pulled out the small green scroll. She was briefly hit with that fact that so many lives were gone from desire of this little object.

"But how could-? I thought you didn't- I mean," apparently this was not at all what she had been expecting. Sniffling Satomi handed it over to the older woman, who could only stare in amazement at the bloodied and sobbing young girl.

And with her mission finally completed Satomi gave in to the blissful nothingness of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _I love you._

 _Really?_

 _Of course, who wouldn't?_

 _I love you too._

Satomi was awake, but she was trying to convince herself that she wasn't. The bed she was lying on was so soft and she knew she only had minutes before Fuyuki would jump on her and tickle her into consciousness. She blinked her eyes open realizing that Fuyuki would never wake her up again because he would never wake up again. Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered what had happened.

She would never see them again, no more silly Fuyuki, no more overbearing Jishin and no more-. She broke off remembering the bloody face of her sensei. How cruel was the world that it would give her so much happiness only to snatch it all away in an instant.

Blinking back the tears that were welling up in her eyes she turned over, looking around the room. Taking in the white walls and empty bed next to her she realized that the Hokage had brought her to the hospital.

She sat up wincing at the soreness of her ribs, rubbing them absently she was about to get out of bed when the door opened.

"Oh no you don't, get back into bed." Tsunade Senju walked into the room. "You need rest." With a gentle hand she pushed Satomi back onto the mattress. "How are you feeling?" Satomi turned her head away angrily, how the fuck was she supposed to feel?

"I'm fine." her voice was devoid of any life or emotion. Tsunade snorted,

"No you're not." Satomi grunted choosing not to say anything. With a sigh the Hokage leaned over to her.

"Here I'm going to check you ribs, you cracked quite a few of them. Frankly I'm surprised you managed to come back without passing out from pain." the girl didn't move as her shirt was lifted, revealing white bandages. Just as she was reaching her hand to the kunoichi the door opened once more. A frantic looking nurse ran in, blood spattered her uniform.

"Tsunade-sama! Saru's back, he's in critical condition!"

"Shit! Hisoka, continue Satomi's check up. I've got to get to the OR." with that the blonde woman rushed from the room, leaving the brown haired nurse. The young woman turned, breathing a little heavy towards the girl.

"Well Satomi-chan, lets see how you're doing." Moving across the room she place a glowing hand on her patients chest. "Hmm, well they seemed to have healed nicely, but you'll feel sore for about a week." the nurse smiled brightly at Satomi and moved her hand over the rest of her. Humming as she moved across Satomi's arms and legs she nodded mumbling 'good, good'. When her hand moved over Satomi's stomach she paused and frowned.

"What is it?" Satomi broke her silence when she saw the puzzled expression on the nurse's face. Biting her lip Hisoka responded,

"Well, I'm not sure. There seems to be a foreign chakra right about here." placing her hand on her stomach she continued, "But I don't know why, the only explanation is that," she broke off staring intensely at Satomi.

"What?" she chewed her lip before responding,

"Well the only time that someone would have another chakra growing inside them is," she paused clearly uncomfortable, "Is when they're pregnant." Time stood still as those words crashed over Satomi's ears,

"You, you mean I'm p-pregnant?"

"Have you had, erm relations in the past month?" the nurse was clearly bothered that she was having this discussion with such a young girl. However Satomi was in shock, hardly bothered with anything else as she nodded her head.

"Well then it's safe to say that you are, congratulations." Hisoka fidgeted. Once again hardly noticing anything but herself, Satomi placed a hand on her stomach.

"A-are you sure?" she glanced at the nurse and seeing her nod, returning her focus back to her stomach she spoke,

"Could you please not tell anyone?"

A bit taken aback Hisoka frowned.

"Well I'm sure this is a rather big shock, but I'm afraid I'll have to enter this in your chart. And report it to Tsunade-sama, all pregnant Kuinoichi are immediately removed from the active duty roster by law." The girl before her dropped her head, hiding behind tangled locks.

"Hai Hisoka-san. Thank you for checking my injuries." Sensing the Kunoichi's desire to be alone she offered a small smile.

"Sure hon, but if you ever need anything." she trailed off as she walked out of the room, leaving a confused girl behind.

Sometime after learning of her pregnancy Satomi slipped back into sleep. When she awoke several hours later she realized that someone else was in the room. A man was resting on the bed next to her, the majority of his body was covered in clean white bandages. His muscular arm was resting on the sheets and she saw a black swirl tattoo, marking him as an ANBU. She cast a quick glance at his bedside table which held his mask, a monkey. 'Saru.' she thought, wasn't that the man that Tsunade went to heal?

He was slightly tan with black hair that rested gently around his face, like a halo. He had soft looking features, his face relaxed in slumber. Satomi stared at the man for some time in the semi-darkness of their hospital room. And as if feeling her eyes on him, the ANBU blearily blinked his eyes open. Blue meet green. The two stared at one another for awhile before Satomi broke the silence.

"Hey." her voice was soft and quiet.

"Hi." his was too.

"I guess you had a rough mission." the man blinked,

"Yeah, you too huh?" Satomi clenched the bed covers in her hands, her gaze still locked with the ANBU's. "That bad?" at that she rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling.

"They died." saying the words aloud no longer brought tears to her eyes, only a hollow, empty feeling inside her chest.

"Who?" she glanced back at the other, and seeing his gaze was curious and not pitying she replied.

"My team, all of them." he sat up on his elbows looking intently at the girl.

"Are you a genin?" she merely nodded. "Oh." he paused before adding, "If you don't mind me asking, who was your sensei?" an icy claw gripped Satomi's heart as the image of her sensei's smiling face swam across her mind.

"Morio, Morio Wakahisa." he fell back onto the mattress.

"Oh." he sounded as if he was a bit lost. With her eyes on him once more she spoke,

"Did you know sensei?"

"Yes, we did missions together when we were chunnin." his tone reminiscent. They sat in silence once more, each lost in their own memories.

"I'm pregnant." it was Satomi who finally broke the quiet. Unsure as to if she could trust the stranger next to her, but overcome with the need to tell someone, anyone.

"What?" the elite shinobi was surprised by the random outburst from the young genin.

"Pregnant, like with a baby." he sat up again.

"Why are you telling me?" she turned back to her side, staring at him,

"I don't know, I just had to tell someone and well, you're Morio's friend."

"What does that have to do with it?" she didn't answer, but rolled over to face the window her back to him. There was silence for a moment before, "Ah I see."

Satomi didn't speak, holding her breath through the next pause waiting for the ANBU to speak again. Whatever she expected, all that followed was a soft, "Gomen genin-san. For your loss."

She only curled up into a ball and let quiet sobs wrack her thin frame. No more words were spoken as both ninja quietly slipped off to sleep.

When she woke up the next time it was to the sound of voices. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes Satomi watched the scene before her. Saru was having his bandages changed by Tsunade. When she had finished the medic-nin turned towards the girl,

"Oh good, you're awake." and before she knew it, Satomi was sitting upright with her shirt off and having her bandaging removed. Blushing a bit she glanced at the ANBU, making sure that he wasn't looking. When the woman had finished she gave her a quick once-over and without checking the chart at the end of the bed told Satomi she could leave the next day.

"Umm Saru-san?" after the Hokage left Satomi nervously caught the attention of the young man.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Listening." Once again the pair fell into silence and didn't disturb it.

The following morning when Satomi was discharged she left the Hospital unsure as to what she should do. She had nothing to do and nowhere to be, no one was waiting for her and that was a lonely feeling. Being on team 14 had been her whole life, it was all she did, all she had ever needed.

For a fleeting moment she wished she could be readmitted to the hospital and go back to the small room with the quiet ANBU. But instead she began the walk back to her apartment.

When she reach the door to the apartment she stared at the words painted on the door in messy light blue paint.

" _Fuyuki and Satomi-chan_."

Fuyuki had painted it on the door the day that Satomi move in. She could still remember his face nearing spliting from his grin as he bounced around with paint on his nose, trying to help her unpack. It had been a wonderful day for both ninja who lived alone in the housing designated for orphans of the Kyuubi attack. Several weeks after they had been assigned to team 14 Fuyuki had discovered she too lived alone and with overwhelming cheerfulness convinced her to move in to save with rent. With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart she unlocked the door and entered the apartment.

The rest of the day and night passed in a daze for Satomi. As she mindlessly moved around doing the traditional after mission cleaning that had once been a time of relief as she and her teammate dusted and unpacked, unwinding from whatever mission they had come home from. Except no one had come home but her; and when she laid her weary head down to sleep, Satomi wondered if she had really come home herself. It certainly didn't feel like home anymore.

Q


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A gentle breeze blew through the open window ruffling the fresh white curtains that were pulled open to let the warm afternoon sun spill into the clean, white room. The room's sole occupant was laying in the bed furthest from the window, his bandaged back pointedly facing the lovely scene beyond the window, Konoha in spring; the village was in full bloom, bursting with life.

The injured young man however was distracted by thoughts that had traveled with him from beyond the tall, sturdy walls that contained the lush trees, vibrant flowers and cheerful villagers. To places that held no warmth, where the people never smiled and the land was harsh and the sun did not shine.

Kirigakure. The Village Hidden in the Mist.

It had been over three years since the ANBU designated as Saru had last set foot in Konoha. So much had changed since the day that the Sandaime had called the newest ANBU before him and assigned him a deep cover mission in Kiri; he was young enough at sixteen to avoid suspicion, the right look and coloring to blend in with mist villagers and knowledgeable in Water Release. The perfect combo needed to infiltrate and seek out survivors of the Kekkei Genkai purge and convince them to defect to Konoha.

It was with a heavy heart that the Sandaime ordered his least experienced ANBU on so dangerous and complicated a mission but the shinobi council had refused to ignore reports of bloodline users still alive and in hiding, if recruited they would be valuable assets in terms of ability and knowledge. He ordered Saru to prepare for a three year mission with no contact and sent him on his way with a look that Saru interpreted as absolute certainty that the two would never again lock eyes.

And it appeared the wise Hokage had been correct; for when Saru returned broken and bleeding with several petrified young bloodline users in tow from his rather messy escape from the Land of Water it was not the kind old man who sent him away who welcomed him home.

Instead Saru was introduced to his new commander when the legendary sannin medic stormed into the emergency operation room barking orders, which were immediately followed with a chorus of 'hai hokage-sama's. Even exhausted and bleeding out he was still ANBU and could put the pieces together. And after she'd put his pieces back together the blond Hokage personally wheeled him to the hospital's debriefing room and received his report and caught him up on everything he had missed in three years.

Orochimaru. The Suna and Sound invasion. The Sandaime's death.

The darkest hour in Konoha since the Kyuubi attack.

And he had missed it all by barely a month. Cursing himself, Saru glared furiously at the door as if he could burn a hole through it with sheer willpower. He thought back to a few weeks ago when he and his three charges were huddled together in the mountains surrounding Kiri, hiding from the hunter nin and a series of furious thunderstorms. If only he had gotten them safely away from Kiri without alerting the village; he hadn't been the only shinobi searching for hidden Kekkai Genkai and his small group had been noticed planning an escape and the whole mission had gone to hell. He could have gotten them out faster; then he wouldn't have had to spend two months avoiding the hunters as he zigzaged through the Land of Water before he got them safely back to the border and to Konoha.

Bitterly he thought back to every moment he had stopped or slowed their pace to accommodate the frightened trio, how fiercely he protected them; all the while his village was endangered. His comrades and commander had needed every shinobi of his skill level, but he. Hadn't. Been. There.

Saru rolled over and punched his pillow, then grit his teeth as pain ran through his not quite healed wounds. Shaking it off after a moment he refocused his eyes on the other side of the room, searching for something new to glare at while he continued his brooding. Dark green eyes softened for a moment as they rested on the empty bed beside him; despite the freshly made bedding he could still picture the haunted young genin who had been laying there until early in the morning when she was discharged.

The news that his old friend Morio had been killed was yet another blow. They had been a year apart at the academy but Saru had quickly caught up to the older shinobi and they made chunnin during the same exam. Shortly after they'd been assigned their first mission together; and Saru swore he has never nor will he ever have a mission that went as poorly as that one. The newly minted chunnin had been upset with himself and his teammate as they left their debriefing; but Morio refused to be brought down, with a laugh he grabbed Saru's shoulder and made the irresistible offer of "first rounds on me".

They'd gotten plastered, and if he searched his memory he could recall equal amounts of drunken laughter and sobbing, both conducted with arms slung around each other's shoulders. Saru had thought that would've been the end of it, until Morio showed up on his windowsill two days later knocking his katana against the glass. After insisting that Saru join him for morning training, so that they'd "never have to get embarrassed by the Hokage in front of the cute missions desk kunoichi" again, they got to work.

The two formed a great partnership, and worked so seamlessly together after months of training that the Hokage enjoyed using their success and the story of their first mission to encourage other shinobi with what they could accomplish with a little bit of teamwork. In fact Morio was the only friend he managed to hold onto as he took the fast track through jonin and passed the ANBU test.

The then jonin had taken him out to the same bar to celebrate earning his mask and tattoo. And a few months later, they went again this time to say farewell as Saru left for Kiri the next morning. Recalling that night he remembered Morio's wish to be given a genin team, so he might pass on the Konoha tradition of teamwork. A fresh pang of remorse surged through his mind as he thought of the outcome of that wish.

"They died. My team, all of them."

Not only had he lost his closest friend; but to learn that his friend's dream had been destroyed, two of his genin dead with him and the third left behind and traumatized was almost too much. It was a well known fact that shinobi who were the sole survivor of a team, especially a genin team were rarely ever deemed fit to return to active duty.

With a frown Saru thought of the other news Morio's student had shared; kunoichi rarely had children, unless they retired specifically to start a family or were impregnated during a mission. Since he knew Konoha never assigned genin seduction missions and she clearly hadn't removed herself from active duty before becoming pregnant he could only assume the child had been an unwanted surprise. Saru felt even sorrier for the poor girl, losing your team and sensei in one fell swoop only to find yourself pregnant and quite possibly without the child's father as well; if he had correctly interpreted her silence last night. 'Well', Saru thought to himself 'that's certainly a career ending combo if I ever saw one, a shame it had to happen before she even reached chunnin'.

If she wasn't carrying a child he would have honored his friend's memory and taken her out to get drunk enough that Morio would wake up in the afterlife with a hangover.

All his reminiscing had given Saru a headache and something else deep down in his gut was aching too, something he couldn't quite make sense of yet. With a weary groan he pulled the covers over his head and forced himself to fall asleep.


End file.
